Paheli: The Riddle of Motherhood
Paheli : The Riddle of Motherhood is a full-length dance production that explores the wide range of human emotion experienced through the transformational motherhood journey. Based on my personal experience and those of my community, this work explores grieving lost identities, reinventing oneself and cultivating self-love. Using elements from Bharatanatyam, Indian contemporary dance and dance theatre, Paheli offers a rich tapestry of movement, emotion, and symbolism that vividly communicate the complexities of modern motherhood.
Dates: May 10th at 6 PM & May 11th at 3PM
Location: Zohar Dance Studios, 4000 Middlefield Road, L4, Palo Alto, CA
Run time: 60 minutes followed by a Q&A session
“Evocative and poignant, Drasti's tear-jerking ode to motherhood displays the hard relationship between loving others and self-love. Her subtle and genuine abhinaya as she looks in the mirror critiquing her changing body drives home every woman's insecurities. I've been fortunate to have seen several iterations of the solo, and with time, Drasti finds a way to go deeper and deeper.”
~Ishita Mili, Founder and Artistic Director of IMGE Dance
“ Drasti portrays a part of motherhood that is both soft and hard, difficult and easy, painful and pain free in its essence; a part that mothers are never eager to share, but are all connected to on a deeply personal level…the use of classical movement and expressions to create a window into a timeless experience for reproductive bodies everywhere is an experience that every witness can relate to... Beyond biology, our innate feminine divine spirit that allows us to mother our circles can be seen and felt in this work on a visceral level.”
~Brinda Guha, a Bessie-nominated artist, choreographer, producer, curator and arts administrator